MK IV

To start, this purchase was inspired by another bittersweet thread:

https://pistol-forum.com/showthread....-a-Good-Friend

I had to put our 15 year old lab down. She was a constant companion to my wife and I ever since her adoption at the age of two. Lost count of the summits the old girl logged with me and the number of nights camped under the stars. She was unhealthy and abused when we got her. Hyper and needy to the end. And always just had to be right there with us.

What to get in memory of such a dog? Something stout and of classic lines for the indefatigable breed. Of full or medium frame. Yet compact enough to follow along any time. If it needed some TLC to get into proper shape, all the better.

Like a snub-nosed High Standard Sentinel Mk IV chambered in 22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire. One-and-a-half pounds loaded with nine shots thanks to a steel frame and aluminum gripframe. Just a touch smaller than a S&W K-frame but with a trigger that will never be as good. Wood stocks and blued finish. Previous owner ruined ignition reliability by trimming the hammer spring and then mangling it when stretching to attempt a half-assed correction. Chip out of one stock panel that needs filled to prevent further damage. And a chambering that barks:

https://i.imgur.com/88LsvXCl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/3zrneI1l.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/TXs9jaFl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/1JIrUmal.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/mjGpuNyl.jpg

I paid too much but don't care. Look forward to doctoring an old rarity to function in remembrance of an irreplaceable friend. Original hammer springs are out of stock at Numrich but have a lead on the original spec. and will try to dig one up through other channels. Failing that, I will make a spacer to slip around the spring guide and make it work that way. This may even finally get me to break out my sheet of leather and learn to make myself a strongside pancake rig.

Testing after picking it up, POI seems on at 15 yards with Winchester 40 grain full metal jacket. Plenty of muzzle blast but no recoil. Completely hit or miss ignition in single-action, and no dice in double. As an interim range holster, an OWB thumb-break for a K-frame snub works alright enough for the task.

By the way, anybody know anything about these guns, their use, and those who bought them? Seems mighty handy a carry gun for the era but they made all too few and I've yet to dig up any period writings.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SCCY Marshal

To start, this purchase was inspired by another bittersweet thread:

https://pistol-forum.com/showthread....-a-Good-Friend

I had to put our 15 year old lab down. She was a constant companion to my wife and I ever since her adoption at the age of two. Lost count of the summits the old girl logged with me and the number of nights camped under the stars. She was unhealthy and abused when we got her. Hyper and needy to the end. And always just had to be right there with us.

What to get in memory of such a dog? Something stout and of classic lines for the indefatigable breed. Of full or medium frame. Yet compact enough to follow along any time. If it needed some TLC to get into proper shape, all the better.

Like a snub-nosed High Standard Sentinel Mk IV chambered in 22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire. One-and-a-half pounds loaded with nine shots thanks to a steel frame and aluminum gripframe. Just a touch smaller than a S&W K-frame but with a trigger that will never be as good. Wood stocks and blued finish. Previous owner ruined ignition reliability by trimming the hammer spring and then mangling it when stretching to attempt a half-assed correction. Chip out of one stock panel that needs filled to prevent further damage. And a chambering that barks:

https://i.imgur.com/88LsvXCl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/3zrneI1l.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/TXs9jaFl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/1JIrUmal.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/mjGpuNyl.jpg

I paid too much but don't care. Look forward to doctoring an old rarity to function in remembrance of an irreplaceable friend. Original hammer springs are out of stock at Numrich but have a lead on the original spec. and will try to dig one up through other channels. Failing that, I will make a spacer to slip around the spring guide and make it work that way. This may even finally get me to break out my sheet of leather and learn to make myself a strongside pancake rig.

Testing after picking it up, POI seems on at 15 yards with Winchester 40 grain full metal jacket. Plenty of muzzle blast but no recoil. Completely hit or miss ignition in single-action, and no dice in double. As an interim range holster, an OWB thumb-break for a K-frame snub works alright enough for the task.

By the way, anybody know anything about these guns, their use, and those who bought them? Seems mighty handy a carry gun for the era but they made all too few and I've yet to dig up any period writings.

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Cool plinker! I'm pretty sure they originally filled the hiking / fishing kit gun niche for Sears. Not sure if this helps any (pretty expensive when you just need a spring) but these folks have a parts kit:

https://everygunpart.com/handgun-kit...-revolver.html

Never used them though I've looked at their kits before. No idea of quality, service, etc.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Half Moon

...Not sure if this helps any (pretty expensive when you just need a spring) but these folks have a parts kit:

https://everygunpart.com/handgun-kit...-revolver.html

Never used them though I've looked at their kits before. No idea of quality, service, etc.

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Thanks! I'll have to start tucking money away for that. Given the decades passed since this was discontinued and the relatively few made, having a pile of spare parts is probably a good idea. Especially since I think there is a problem with my firing pin spring or it is maybe even missing entirely.

As for ignition, I cut and ground on some small washers to stack around the hammer spring guide. Three gave me reliable ignition with a couple cyli ders of Maxi-Mag and one dud in a couple cylinders of Winchester FMJ which a buddy's LCR doesn't agree with so not holding it against my snub. Two washers wasn't 100% with Maxi-Mag. So I'll measure my washer stack and have a machinist acquaintance do me up a more refined one in stainless. That should hold me over until I get the parts kit. Probably just run it like that until there is a problem, actually.

As for the basic design of the gun, it's nothing for speedloaders. Between trying to pop nine WMR cases free at once and the very short stroke of the ejector rod, several stubborn empties need to be plucked out by hand with every cylinder. Sights seem close to POA with both loads out to 15 yards. And the unrefined looking stocks are actually a very nice fit in my mitts. The usual Sentinel propensity to let the cylinder pass the stop on attempted ejection is present with even the steel frame and years of revisions. May JB Weld a bump for the crane to prevent it fully flopping open and staying in front of the stop where it belongs.

Problems aside, this is a neat little gun. And I'm enjoying the excuse to learn some more revolver smithery.

SCCY Marshall:

There's an article on the High Standard Mark iV revolver, written by James D. Mason, in the September/October 1976 issue of The American Handgunner magazine. (page 24)

IIRC, back issues are on iine at WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM

The article covers this revolver in some detail, with information on the origin of this model, as well as technical specs. There's also information about trigger pulls and modification of the hammer spring, as well as proper timing of the revolver.

Hope this helps some.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wlktheduk

There's an article on the High Standard Mark iV revolver, written by James D. Mason, in the September/October 1976 issue of The American Handgunner magazine. (page 24)...Hope this helps some.

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I dug up a .pdf and read the piece. It is excellent, thank you! I'd dropped the gun off with a buddy for his opinion on my way to work, yesterday. He swung by after I got home to try buying it and reluctantly return it with his thoughts. We discussed the possibility of lapping friction points and whether the juice would be worth the squeeze. Mr. Mason's experience has me ready to do it. Using the mild liquid abrasive he did and flushing to avoid cracking into the fire control group is an excellent approach.

The trigger serrations on my unit are quite unpleasant. I spent a few minutes dressing the sharp ridges with a thin strip of sandpaper. Will see how that does for now and get more aggressive about rounding them down later if needed.

My buddy also seconded my thoughts about the star. The edges are very sharp and we both think they are grabbing cases and contributing to some getting dragged back into the chambers when the ejector rod is released. Will also ever so slightly deburr the many edges with a fine abrasive cone on a hand twisted rod, as well. Will then kiss each charge hole with same. Not to chamfer but simply knock off any sharp edges.

Unlike myself, the hammer spur will be left intact. Not only because it looks cool but more importantly the needed weight it adds to impact. Also, as a kit gun sort of thing, single-action is part of the intended function.

Ayoob wrote an article about the Sentinels too.

I've got a 6 inch R101 and it's nifty. You can dry fire these, and they have a very interesting extractor star.

My brother in law had one in a 3" when I was a kid in 22LR. Used it as a kit gun and it dispatched vermin. varmints and rattlesnakes. Never shot it for accuracy but it worked on intended targets.

Kissed the top and bottom edges of the star with a fine grit conical stone. Also the charge holes where not covered by the star. A nylon bushing has replaced the washer stack to act as a hammer spring spacer.

Eighteen shots of Federal 40 FMJ and nine of Maxi-Mag popped off without a hitch on today's walk. Holding the gun in my left hand and smacking the ejector rod with my right, all cases popped clear on their own. Loading was sticky by the third and final cylinder where case heads needed to be poked into battery, though. No real surprise for a small snub with lots of fouling and slender cartridges.

The trigger serrations are much less aggressive but I'l be sanding them a bit more.

Then to lap the moving bits, paint the front sight yellow, and make or purchase a holster. Then it should be smooth sailing with a fun little snub.

Kind and I ran fifty rounds of Winchester HV, today. Little one had a keyhole on target which was adorable. Little spitzer rifle bullet silhouette made by a snub-nosed revolver. Ignition was finally positive with every trigger press as a positive. But another negative in printing slightly low and substabtially right at fifteen yards. At 25, even keeping on a Q would require Kentucky windage on the edge of thebottle. Between the instability and poor regulation, the load is disqualified. I'll have to start poking around for 34-40 grain loads, assuming I can find any in this drought.

Did order up a couple Tuff brand speed strips so hope I find ammo to clip into them soon.